The RS Vareo Grand Prix was held from the 3rd September to 4th September 2016 by the Alton Water Sailing Club. There were four races held on Day one.
The RS Valero event in the club regatta made held with spate starts and the teams’ good use of the lake. The winds were light during the start of the race and offered shifts and gusts during the course of the race.
Luke Fisher got to a great start and went ahead of the fleet in the first leg, thanks to the left shift. Nick Crickmore and Mark Smith battled for the 2nd position and finally Nick got to the end of the race in the 2nd position. Nick captured the lead during race 2, but Luke had a good run and caught up with him on the last run to register his 2nd race victory – a testament to all his practice on the Scotland bareboat charters over the summer.
The third race saw cloudy condition and strong winds. The race was quite a close one and Nick, with assistance from off wind, finally got the better of his nemesis in this race. The fourth race saw Nick capsize and this gave Luke his third race win on Day one. It was a day to remember for Luke.
Day 2 saw very strong winds as predicted. The familiar windward/leeward course had 3 RS Vareos join the exhausted RS200 fleet for 2 races. Even though the winds were very strong and changed its flow, Luke was in full control of his boat and made good use of the conditions to register wins in both the races. Nick did show some great skills in both the races and put a lot of resistance, but faced capsize in both the races. Mark took advantage of Nick’s mishaps and got past Nick. Luke won the event by registering 5 wins out of 6 races.